Walsh to BA cabin crew: Strike will be broken

The href="http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/2010/02/ba-strike-qa-questions-passenger-advice-walkouts-easter/">BA strike edged closer to reality yesterday after CEO Willie Walsh defiantly told cabin crew that 6,000 staff have stepped up to the plate to fill their shoes during walkouts.

The flag carrier has been holding talks with the Unite union in an effort to defuse the BA strike threat, which returned last week when BA cabin crew voted in favour of staging industrial action.

But in a sign that negotiations to avert the BA strike may have faltered, Mr Walsh has ramped up the rhetoric in a stern webcast delivered to all employees over the company’s intranet.

British Airways is “as prepared as we can be” to offset the impact of any strike action, he insisted, having drawn up contingency plans with other carriers and drafted in temporary staff.

Mr Walsh revealed that 6,000 employees – about one quarter of the airline’s non-cabin crew staff – have put their names forward to keep BA href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk">flights operational during walkouts. Of those, about 1,000 are expected to be fully trained by next week, which is when the strike action could begin.

BA has also made plans to lease some 23 aircraft, including full crew, from other UK and European operators, as well as drafting in a temporary workforce of former part-time staff.

“These plans will allow us to protect our customers’ travel arrangements better than many people imagined possible in the difficult conditions that a strike … is bound to cause,” Mr Walsh said.

He was vague about the expected impact at href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airports/Heathrow/">Heathrow Airport, the flag carrier’s busiest hub, saying only that a “substantial proportion” of long-haul flights and a “good number” of short-haul ones would be operating. href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airports/London-City/">London City Airport would be running services as normal, he predicted.

At href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airports/Gatwick/">Gatwick Airport – where staff support for the strike has been lowest due to contractual differences – all long-haul routes and 50 per cent of short-haul routes would be operational.

On top of the raft of measures taken by management to dampen the BA strike threat, it is expected that a large number of cabin crew will cross the picket line and boycott the walkouts. Employees have been told they will lose their generous travel perks permanently if they support industrial action.

Unite boss Len McCluskey was quick to hit back at Mr Walsh over his tough stance, accusing him of taking an “inflammatory and confrontational” tone that will hinder negotiations.

“Again, we say to BA that the only way to resolve the issues before us is through negotiation,” Mr McCluskey said. “They certainly will not be addressed by attempting to intimidate employees.”

But few pundits now expect the negotiations to bear fruit. It became apparent yesterday that href="http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/2010/03/ba-strike-decision-expected-shortly/">BA strike dates could be announced as early as tomorrow, with negotiations between the two sides reaching a stalemate. One Unite spokesman described hopes for a settlement as a “flickering flame”.

BA cabin crew must give at least seven days notice of any pending walkouts, which gives them until 15 March to formally announce strike action under current industrial relations law.

© Cheapflights Ltd